Friday, May 25, 2007

One week of difference

I did so much better than the previous week at the IPSC match. Trigger finger position made the difference in keeping bullets in the center of the target. I was shooting a little high, though. Most of my shots were head shots. That's great for a shooting game like this, but I use practical shooting as training for shooting in defensive situations. In a defensive situation, I also have the legal ramifications to consider. Aiming at center mass is a lot easier to defend than head shots. Center mass shows you were shooting to stop your opponent, shooting them in the head shows an intent to kill. That's one of the best things I ever learned from being around police officers all my life. Shoot to stop them, and you'll most likely kill your opponent if you hit center mass. Aiming for the arm or leg is also one of those lawsuit-enhancing shots. Why? You were deliberately trying to cripple your opponent. So yeah. Aim for center mass. It's the responsible thing to do. I was aiming for center mass, or so I thought. At the end of my second run I heard a lot of "Alpha" and "Bravo" scores. "Alpha" or "Zone A" is one of two areas on an IPSC target that roughly equates to either center mass or the area of the face that surrounds the eyes and nose. "Bravo" or "Zone B" is the area that covers the rest of the head on an IPSC silhouette target.

The one thing I've got to work on is making sure that my finger is obviously out of the trigger guard during reloads. That cost me some points at the end of each run. I also apparently need a better holster as the forward cant of the XD "Extreme Duty Gear" holster isn't acceptable. The forward cant comes from the weight of the gun and the holster not being able to fasten tightly enough to my belt. So, either I need a better holster or a wider belt. Feh. Looks like I'll be buying a gunbelt or a fixed paddle holster.

Other than that, though, the night was good. 18 shots, 18 hits per run. Go me.